Article orienting means



June 5, 1956 s. T. DAY

ARTICLE ORIENTING MEANS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

Filed Jan. 14, 1954 INVENTOR Stewart 7? Day ATTORNEYS June 5, 1956 s. T.DAY

ARTICLE ORIENTING MEANS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 v Filed Jan. 14, 1954 INVENTORSte war! 7. Day

ATTORNEYS the line 44 of Fig. 3,

United States Patent ARTICLE ORIENTING MEANS Stewart T. Day, Azle, Tex.,assiguor of fifty-one per cent to William E. Shields, Jr., Azle, Tex.

Application January 14, 1954, Serial No. 403,972

17 Claims. ((11. 193-43 This invention relates to new and usefulimprovements in orienting means and more particularly to means fororienting article-s having marginal flanges. One object of the inventionis .to provide improved means for orienting articles having marginalflanges or walls, such as container caps, whereby the articles may berapidly fed to a point of use without the necessity of prearranging thesame.

An important object of the invention is to provide improved orientingmeans of such construction as to receive flanged. articles inheterogeneous arrangement and to deliver the same individually andsuccessively in an oriented manner irrespective of whether the flangesare unidirectional or project from both sides of the bodies of thearticles.

A particular object of the invention is to provide an improved orienterhaving coacting stationary means for orienting flanged articles wherebythe orienter is of relatively simple, inexpensive construction and doesnot involve any moving parts.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved orienter forflanged articles which is of the inclined chute type and which has apair of spaced coacting elements arranged to bypass correctly orientedarticles and to invert or orient oppositely disposed articles regardlessof whether the flanges project from only one or both sides of the bodiesof the articles.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an improvedorienter, of the character described, wherein the coacting elements arespaced in accordance with the diameter or width of the articles topermit an article to clear one of said elements when the article ismomentarily supported by the other element, one of said elements beingdisposed above the other for directing misoriented articles into contactwith said other element for correctly orienting such articles. 7

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved orienterhaving novel hopper means of simplified construction for receiving aplurality of flanged articles and individually and successively feedingthe same to orienting means of the character described.

A construction designed to carry out the invention will be hereinafterdescribed together with other features of the invention.

The invention will be more readily understood from a reading of thefollowing specification and by reference to the accompanying drawings,wherein an example of the invention is shown, and wherein:

. Fig. l is a perspective view of orienting means and a hopperconstructed in accordance with the invention,

Fig. 2 is a transverse, vertical, sectional view of the hopper,

Fig. 3 is a vertical, sectional view, taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2,showing the relation of the orienting means and hopper,

Fig. 4 is a horizontal, cross-sectional view, taken on 2,748,914Patented June 5, 1956 Fig. 5 is a transverse, vertical, sectional viewof the orienting means taken substantially on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3,showing the bypassing of correctly oriented articles,

Fig. 6 is a view, similar to Fig. 5, showing the inverting ofmisoriented articles, and

Fig. 7 is a perspective view, partly in section, of the orienting meansand showing the relation of its coacting elements.

In the drawings, the numeral 10 designates an orienter embodying theprinciples of the invention and having a hopper 11 associated therewithfor feeding flanged articles, such as caps, thereto in heterogeneousarrangement. As shown most clearly in Fig. 2, the hopper 11 includes anopen-ended cylindrical drum or sleeve 12 mounted on the upper end of aninclined axial shaft 13 by means of a suitable spider 14 and extendingoutwardly from vthe shaft. An annular flanged plate or end wall 15overlies the outer end of the drum 12 and has outwardly flanged, coaxialopening or inner periphery 16 of relatively large diameter, wherebyflanged articles to be oriented may be readily placed in said drum andretained therein. The lower end of the shaft 13 extends through acircular base or plate 17, which is rigidly mounted by means of asuitable support 18, and carries a drive pulley 19 for receiving a belt20 to impart rotation to said shaft and the drum relative to the base. Asuitable bearing 21 is mounted on the base 17 and has the shaftjournaled therein. The base is spaced from the inner or lower open endof the drum 12 and has an annular, peripheral cover or rim 22 fastenedthereto, such as by screws 23, in surrounding relation and extendingcoaxially between said base and drum. A radial flange 24, having aninternal diameter slightly greater than the external diameter of thedrum, extends inwardly from the outer end of the rim 22 in closelyspaced, encircling relation to said drum.

The rim and its flange 24 coact with the base 17 to provide a housingfor a circular plate 25 fixed on the shaft 13 so as to be rotatable withand provide a bottom for the drum. In order to be closely contiguous tothe rim 22, the diameter of the plate 25 is substantially equal to thediameter of the base. As will be apparent, the spacing between the plateand the adjacent open end of the drum as well as the inner periphery ofthe flange 24 varies in accordance with the thickness of the articles tobe oriented. Preferably, the peripheral portion of the plate 25 isoffset toward the base to provide an annular, radial flange 26 spacedfrom the housing flange a greater distance than the upset medial portion27 of said plate which is substantially of the same diameter as the drumand forms the bottom thereof. As shown in Fig. 2, the spacing betweenthe medial portion of the plate and the inner end of the drum isinsufficient to permit an article A, shown in broken lines, to passtherebetween except when the article is at an angle to said platebetween parallel and perpendicular relation thereto. As a result, anarticle supported by the flange 26 is retained by the upset medialportion 27 of the plate 25 and cannot fall into the drum and said flangecoacts with the rim 22 and its flange 24 as well as the medial portionof the plate to provide a track encircling the drum. A plurality ofwidely-spaced fins or ribs 28 extend radially from the medial portion ofthe plate for carrying articles along the track around the drum.

Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate the movement or feeding of the articles A fromthe hopper to the orienter, which is shown in the form of a rightangular chute or housing 29 having an upper horizontal or transverse leg30 and a depending or upright leg 31. The housing is substantiallyrectangular in cross-section and of dimensions sufiicient to accommodatethe passage of a single article at a time in edgewise or flangewiserelation. The horizontal leg has its free end conforming to thecurvature of the rim 22 and is provided with a lower side Wall or guidebar 32 projecting through a slot 33 in said rim adjacent its flange 24for coacting with the ribs 28 to direc articles from the hopper to theorienter. As shown most clearly in Fig. 4, the guide bar 32 overlies thetrack in spaced relation and is of such height as to clear the ribs andstop rotative movement of the articles revolved by the track. Since thearticles cannot clear the guide bar, said articles are directed throughthe slot 33 into the transverse leg 3% of the orienter and each articleis pushed therealong until it falls into the upright leg 33. Althoughthe orienter and hopper are inclined in the same general direction,rearwardly and downwardly, it is noted that the article may be feddirectly to said orienter in any suitable manner and/or by any suitablemeans.

The upright leg 31 of the orientcr housing 29 includes an angular frontwall 3-1 having a rearwardly offset shoulder 35 and lower portion 36.Below the transverse leg 30, the rear wall of the upright leg has anoutwardly bowed or distended portion 37 which is spaced from the frontwall 34 a distance appreciably greater than the thicliness of thearticles A so as to provide a chamber or cavity 38 of sufficientamplitude to accommodate the greatest dimension, width or diameter, ofsaid articles, The distended wall portion 37 extends below the shoulder35 and has its lower extremity 39 converging or tapering inwardly towardthe lower front wall portion 36 into substantially parallel relation. Asuitable discharge chute 40, rectangular in cross-section, depends fromthe lower end of the upright leg, as shown by the numeral 41, may have aforwardly curved lower end portion (Fig. 1). if desired, a return chute42 may extend transversely from the upper portion of the discharge chuteto the lower portion of the hopper. A slot 43 is formed in the lowerportion of the rim 22 adjacent its flange 24 (Fig. 3) to establishcommunication between the return chute 42 and track whereby excessarticles may be returned to said track from the discharge chute toprevent clogging of the orienter.

For inverting or orienting the misoriented articles, an inverting orhook element 44 is carried by the front wall 34 of the upright leg 31 ofthe housing 29 immediately above the rcarwardly offset shoulder 35(Figs. 5-7) and may be supported or form a part of said shoulder.Although subject to variation, the hook element 44 is shown in the formof an upright plate underlying the front wall in contiguous, parallelrelation and suitably attached thereto, such as by rivets 45. Arearwardly and upwardly curved flange or lip 46 is for ted on the loweredge portion of the plate (Fig. 7) and, preferably, is swung on an arcof constant radius of sulficient amplitude and relative shallowness soas to receive the edge or flange of an article without confining thearticle. It is noted that the hook element is substantially in alinementwith the upper portion of the housing leg 31 as well as with the outerend portion of the transverse leg 30.

At the juncture of the housing legs, a guide element or plate 47 issecured by rivets 48, or other suitable means, in overlying relation tothe rear housing wall so as to depend into the chamber 38 in spacedrelation to the front wall 34. Preferably, the guide element 47 isformed of relatively thin, flexible metal or other material and isarched or bowed rearwardly, whereby its lower end converges toward thefront wall and is spaced therefrom a distance less than its upper endand slightly less than the thickness of the articles. A flexible fingeror tongue 49, of a width less than the diameter of the articles, isprovided by tapering or reducing the lower end portion of the guideelement and is adapted to bear against the articles so as to urge andmaintain the same in engagement with the front wall. Of course, theexact contour and shape of the guide element is not critical so long assaidelement performs the above function and directs misoriented articlesinto contact with the lip 46 of the hook element. If desired, theextremity of the tongue 49 may be bent rearwardly upon itself as shownby the numeral 50. It is noted that the guide element is substantiallyin alinement with the outer edge of the lip, although rearward thereofin a vertical plane. The spacing between the hook and guide elements isin accordance with the diameter of the articles and is sutficient topermit an article to clear one of said elements when the article issupported momentarily by the other element.

Since the oricnter is disposed at a rearward inclination, a correctlyoriented article is momentarily suspended by the guide element 47 byengagement of the tongue 49 with the upper margin of the article (Fig.5) whereby the lower margin of said article swings outwardly orrearwardiy away from the front wall 34 so as to clear the hool; clementi4. This rearward swinging of the article is permitted by the size ofthe chamber 38 and is due to the flange of the article projectingprimarily from one of its sides. As soon as the lower margin of thearticle moves below the tongue, said margin is unconfined and saidarticle pivots clockwise toward a vertical plane about the fulcrumprovided by said tongue and the upper margin of said article. Upondisengagement from the tongue, the article strikes the bowed rear wallportion 37 and slides along the lower rear wall portion 39 into thedischarge chute 40. As a result, the orienter has no effect uponarticles which are correctly oriented other than to maintain the same insuch relationship.

As shown in Fig. 6, a misoriented article is held in engagement with thefront wall due to the tongue bearing against the relatively flat top orouter side of the article. The tongue has sufficient flexibility orresiliency to maintain this relationship without retarding downwardtravel of the article, said tongue flexing rearwardly to permit passageof said article. Due to its confinement by the tongue, the articleslides along the front wall and its lower margin is directed into thelip 46 of the hook element. Since the front wall is inclined, thearticle pivots counterclockwise and falls into the chamber 38 ininverted or correctly oriented relation. From the chamber, the articleslides down the lower rear wall portion 39 into the discharge chute 40.

The orienter may be employed for unscrambling or orienting variousarticles having coaxial, marginal flanges or walls, such as caps, lids,cups, cans and other closures, containers, retainers or receptacles.Primarily, the orienter is adapted for use with caps for cartons of thetype indicated by the numeral 51 (Figs. 5 and 6) and having its flange52 projecting above and below or on each side of an intermediate closuremember or disk 53. Of course, the disk or a portion thereof must becloser to one edge of the flange than the other and may be flush withone of said flanges, it being noted that caps or other articles havingdual projecting flanges are most diflicult to orient. In addition to theversatility of the orienter, its simplicity of construction and theabsence of moving parts make said orienter most economical, elficaciousand rapid in operation without requiring any appreciable adjustment ormaintenance. Although primarily designed for orienting circular orcylindrical articles, it is noted that many polygonal articles arecapable of being oriented in substantially the same manner by the meansdescribed hereinbefore. It is pointed out that the construction of thehopper 11 is subject to variation and that other means may be utilizedfor feeding articles to the housing of the orienter. Also, thetransverse leg of the orienter housing is not essential since thearticles may be fed to the upper end or any side of the upright leg.

The foregoing description of the invention is explanatory thereof andvarious changes in the size, shape and materials, as well as in thedetails of the illustrated construction may be made, within the scope ofthe appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Means for orienting relatively flat articles having axial flangesincluding walls defining a passage for flanged articles in seriatim,coacting means mounted in spaced relation on the walls in the passagefor inverting misoriented articles and bypassing correctly orientedarticles, the first of the coacting means momentarily supporting acorrectly oriented article to permit pivoting of such article and itsclearance of the second coacting means, said first coacting meansconfining a misoriented article in engagement with one of the walls anddirecting such article into contact with said second coacting means, thelatter being stationary and momentarily supporting such article by itsaxial flange to permit reverse pivoting thereof and its clearance ofsaid first means whereby the misoriented article is correctly oriented.

2. An orienter for relatively flat articles having axial flangesincluding walls defining a passage for flanged articles in seriatim,guide means on one of the walls for confining a misoriented article inengagement with an opposite wall, and inverting means on the oppositewall receiving the misoriented article from the guide means andmomentarily supporting such article by its flange to permit pivoting andcorrect orientation of such article, said guide means momentarilysupporting a correctly oriented article by its flange to permit reversepivoting of such article away from said opposite wall and invertingmeans.

3. An orienter as set forth in claim 2 wherein the inverting means isspaced from the guide means in accordance with the width of thearticles.

4. An orienter as set forth in claim 2 wherein the walls define agravity chute, the guide means being disposed above the inverting means.

5. An orienter as set forth in claim 4 wherein the guide and invertingmeans are spaced apart in accordance with the width of the articles.

6. An orienter for relatively flat articles having axial marginalflanges including an inclined chute, coacting orienting means in thechute and including guide and inverting means in opposed verticallyspaced relation to each other, the guide means momentarily supporting acorrectly oriented article by its flange to permit pivoting of sucharticle and its clearance of the inverting means, said guide meansconfining and directing a misoriented article into engagement with saidinverting means, the latter momentarily supporting such article topermit pivoting thereof in a direction opposite to the pivoting of thecorrectly oriented article whereby the misoriented article is correctlyoriented.

7. An orienter as set forth in claim 6 wherein the guide means is spacedabove the inverting means in accordance with the width of the articles.

8. An orienter as set forth in claim 6 wherein the chute is enlargedopposite the inverting means to accommodate pivoting of the misorientedarticle.

9. An orienter for relatively flat articles having axial marginalflanges including a gravity chute having walls,

an inverting element on one of the walls of the chute for momentarilysupporting a misoriented article by its lower flange portion to permitpivoting and orientation of such article, a guide element on an oppositewall above the inverting element for confining and directing themisoriented article into contact with said inverting element, the guideelement momentarily suspending a correctly oriented article by its upperflange portion to permit pivoting of such article in a directionopposite to the pivoting of the misoriented article and its clearance ofsaid inverting element.

10. An orienter as set forth in claim 9 wherein the chute has upper andlower inclined walls, the guide element being carried by the lowerinclined wall and the inverting element by the upper inclined Wall.

11. An orienter as set forth in claim 10 wherein the lower inclined wallis distended below the guide element to provide a chamber foraccommodating pivotal orientation of misoriented articles.

12. An orienter as set forth in claim 9 wherein the guide element isflexible and coacts with the chute wall carrying the inverting element.

13. An orienter for relatively fiat articles having axial marginalflanges including a gravity chute having walls, guide means adjacent oneof the walls of the chute for confining a misoriented article inengagement with the opposite wall, inverting means adjacent saidopposite wall and belOW the guide means for receiving the misorientedarticle therefrom and momentarily supporting such article by its lowerflange portion to permit correct pivotal orientation of such article,said guide means momentarily suspending a correctly oriented article byits upper flange portion to permit pivoting of such article away fromthe invetting means and said opposite wall' 14. An orienter as set forthin claim 13 wherein the guide means includes a flexible element, theinverting means including a hook element.

15. An orienter as set forth in claim 13 wherein the chute has upper andlower inclined Walls, the guide means being adjacent the lower inclinedWall and the inverting means adjacent the upper inclined Wall.

16. An orienter as set forth in claim 15 wherein the lower inclined wallis distended below the guide means to provide a chamber foraccommodating pivotal orientation of misoriented articles.

17. An orienter as set forth in claim 13 wherein the wall adjacent theguide means is bowed outwardly below said means to provide a chamber foraccommodating pivotal orientation of misoriented articles.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS161,382 Carey Mar. 30, 1875 2,404,480 Fernald July 23, 1946 2,595,065Evasic Apr. 29, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 627,268 Great Britain Aug. 4, 1949

